The Chelsea Housing Authority ended its last fiscal year almost $1 million in the red on its state public housing, and plans to spend most of the next five years of state repair money on the Buckley Apartments, its senior building on Bloomingdale Street, according to the authority’s draft annual plan for fiscal 2027.
The public can read the plan and comment until a hearing on Wednesday, November 18, at 8:30 a.m. in the conference room at the authority’s office, 54 Locke Street. Comments can be made at the hearing, by email to Executive Director Paul Nowicki at [email protected], or in writing at the office, and must arrive before the hearing closes. Requests for accommodations are due by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4. Remote access is available on request at 617-409-5333. The English draft and a Spanish version are posted on chelseaha.com.
What the plan covers
The plan covers the authority’s 462 state-aided apartments: 208 at Buckley and 56 at Union Park for seniors, and the Fitzpatrick (70) and Prattville (128) family developments, which are being redeveloped. The authority also manages federally assisted housing and vouchers serving 959 households and 80 state rental vouchers, which are outside this plan.
The money
- In the year ending December 31, 2025, the authority took in $5,983,833 and spent $6,974,891, a deficit of $991,058, against a budgeted deficit of $298,960.
- The current approved budget projects revenue of $6,096,758, expenses of $6,614,097 and a deficit of $517,339.
- The state operating subsidy in that budget is $2,961,558, down 5.6 percent.
- The operating reserve was $1,340,029 at the end of fiscal 2024, 42 percent of the full level the state defines. The state requires at least 35 percent.
Repairs
The authority expects $628,410.95 a year in state formula funding. For fiscal 2027 it proposes $1,292,619 in projects, more than double that amount, almost all of it to replace windows and balcony doors at Buckley ($1,284,922). Later years list a carport and waste line replacement at Buckley and landscaping and paving at Union Park ($812,318 in 2028), roofs at both senior buildings ($937,877 in 2029), and a Buckley bathroom modernization ($4,787,532) and common area painting in 2030, with shower and kitchen work in 2031.
Active projects already under way include $1,644,424 for facade and support column repair at Buckley, $1,003,896 for floodproofing at Prattville, a $413,332 roof at Union Park and an emergency boiler replacement on Orange Street. The largest line, $40.9 million, is listed as a state grant for the Innes Apartments.
The plan says the authority will not add flood or heat protections to the Buckley and Union Park projects, even though both are flagged in the state’s system for weather risks such as storm surge and heat.
State review
The state’s latest review of the authority, for the year ending December 2025, rated most areas with no findings. Two items drew corrective action. Board members had not completed the training the state requires every two years: the plan says 2 of 5 members are now in compliance and that a reminder has been added to the board agenda twice a year. And inspection repairs were misclassified as routine work, with some work given by verbal instruction instead of work orders, which the authority says it has fixed.
The plan also says the authority has hired a developer, JJC, for the redevelopment of its veterans’ family housing and that site work such as core samples is under way. Our earlier stories cover the Fitzpatrick and Prattville redevelopment and the council’s 70 percent local preference for affordable housing lotteries.